Public Enemies

One of the most underrated directors of our time Michael Mann pairs up with one of the most talented actors, Johnny Depp and Christian Bale to make a melodrama of Public Enemy #1, John Dillinger.

Michael Mann, who has directed Heat, The Insider, Collateral, Miami Vice, and Last of the Mohicans, pulls out another brilliant performance in a feature of John Dillinger, who is well known for robbing banks, escaping prison, and making the US government look like a bunch of bumbling idiots and takes it to the big screen with power and grace.

It starts out with Dillinger (played by Johnny Depp) breaking out some of his men out of jail. At the same time you see Melvin Purvis (played by Christian Bale) running down a famous criminal in the corn fields and gunning him down without escape. Director Mann, has done this before in Heat, with Al Pacino and Robert Deniro, and this same formula worked again. You feel the tension and dialogue between the cop and the criminal, and they aren’t even in the same scene. Genius!
Anyways, while Dillinger continues to make an ass out of J. Edgar Hoover, the head of the FBI, who wanted to bring down Dillinger for whatever it takes and regardless the cost. He hired Purvis to take over in Chicago since at that time there was no Federal laws to bring in Dillinger, if he crosses another states border.
On a side tangent Dillinger meets Billie Frechette, (played by Marion Cotillard ), and there romantic chemistry was strong.

Typically when you see a “romance on screen,” it is a waste of time on film or it breaks character; however for Depp and Cotillard did a great role, and a convincing role. It is amazing to see her convictions and since Dillinger showed his loyalty to her, she showed her loyalty to him. One of big things I really enjoyed was the important roles that women had in this film. Typically in a gangster movie, it is all about the men, but Mann showed the incredible influence that the woman had that even resulted in the death of Dillinger.

What worked for me was the cinematography. At times you would see the shaking of the camera, and at first I didn’t really like it…however as the movie went on, and the more I thought about it, I realized this film needed it in order to bring us to the time of the 30’s. Not for one second, do you think you were in another time or era.
What didn’t work for me in particular in this film were two things. First, I felt that the movie was 30 minutes to long. I am saying that only because I felt the time go by. Some of the scenes could’ve been shortened or taken out. The second thing is that I got annoyed with the music score. It wasn’t that I didn’t like the music used, it worked well, but it was the timing. It would come in at random parts. It wasn’t coordinated that well.

I just have a random thought about Michael Mann films. I always find that he illustrates the bad guys to be good, and the good guys play the role you don’t root for. You don’t see that very often. Even though you have a sense you know what is going to happen to them, it is interesting how he brings the likable qualities of Dillinger to the screen.

I would recommend this film to anyone. It was a fun movie with a great supporting cast. It is one of those films were I will need to see again. There was so much going on, that I will need to see a second time to enjoy it more. I can’t wait to see what else Michael Mann will come out with next.